Peripherals

Mike bought a new Dell Laptop with Windows 10 and now his printer isn't supported. Leo says that a lot of people are discovering that many printers and other peripherals don't work with Windows 10. But that isn't the fault of Microsoft, it's the manufacturer of the printer. They haven't made a driver for it. And they most likely want to sell him a compatible printer instead. There are other choices, however. CUPS drivers are generic and could work. They're based on Linux and he would just need a CUPS to Windows driver to serve as a middle man.

Tim has an old Toshiba Satellite laptop and the keys on the keyboard have stopped working and it's spreading. If he upgrades to Windows 10, will that fix it? Leo says it could be a physical flaw. He should try plugging in a wired keyboard. If it's software, the keys won't work. If they do, then he'll know it's a hardware issue with that keyboard.

Jesse is an audiophile who loves high resolution music. He wants to be able to listen to his music on any device without having to rely on an internet connection to do it. He was thinking about using Plex, but isn't sure how it works. Leo says that Plex doesn't pull music from the internet. It relies on local storage and then can route it to any device on the network. He could then send it to Roku to play. He should be able to stream 192 kb audio just fine over Wi-Fi.

Mark is looking for a good Bluetooth keyboard for his iPad Air and his smaller Android tablet. Leo says it would work with both, but he'll want to be sure he gets one that has a slot, and not one that doubles as a case. Microsoft makes a folding one that gets really tiny and expands. It's called the Universal Foldable Keyboard, and it's $100 list.

Charlie can't print an attachment, but he can print other things. The attachment is zipped and when he unzips it, it's a PDF file. Leo says that in order to print PDF files, he'll need a PDF reader. Windows didn't come with a PDF reader until Windows 8, so most people wound up getting Adobe Reader. Leo says to open it in Google Drive, and he'll be able to print from there.

Kathy has an Epson Workforce printer and she can print to it, but she can't scan from the front panel and output it to the computer. Leo says she can scan to Google Drive, but to scan to her computer, she would probably need to scan from the computer itself. It works on her Windows computer, just not her Mac. Leo says that may be a driver issue. Epson has an FAQ on its support site, though.

Terry uses an Epson scanner/printer but he can't export it to PDF. An error occurs. Leo says that a PDF creation program could be an easy workaround that can talk to the printer. But it sounds like a corrupted driver. Terry should go to Epson.com to download and install all the latest drivers.

Julian bought an Epson Workforce Printer with Precision Core. Can he use third party ink cartridges with it? Leo says that he thinks those solutions are a false economy. First, they may replace the head when they replace the ink cartridge. But if it's a multi cartridge printer, then they probably won't.

Dan wants a keyboard for his iPad. What one would be best? Leo says that any bluetooth keyboard will work with the iPad. Many companies make keyboard cases, such as Logitech. But Apple's own bluetooth keyboard is excellent for a standard bluetooth keyboard. Caller Rob likes the KeyFolio Pro 2.

Joe wants to get a new monitor for his desk to connect to his MacBook Air. Would a TV be a cheaper and better option? Leo says not at all. A computer monitor is a far better, and sharper option. TVs were made specifically for television, which isn't as demanding as a computer screen. Dell has great monitors for $300.